what it is like to be a girl

January 18, 2008

An article in yesterday’s Toronto Star outlines Plan Canada’s project to follow the lives of girls around the world. The project is called Because I am a Girl. The hardships too many females have to face speak for themselves. This is what inequality looks like.

Life for girls in developing countries:

62 million girls under age 15 do not go to school.

96 million young women 15-24 are illiterate.

7.3 million young women are living with HIV and AIDS.

Two-thirds of newly infected youth in sub-Sahara Africa are females.

14 million females aged 15 to 19 give birth each year.

Pregnancy leading to birth or unsafe abortion is the leading cause of death for females aged 15 to 19 world-wide.

More than 700,000 teenage girls are married each day with the majority of girls in many countries married before 18.

450 million adult women are stunted from childhood protein malnutrition.

9.6 million girls are in hazardous labour including slavery, prostitution and armed conflict.

June 3, 2008

May 22, 2008

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Thursday April 9 | 11:03 AM

Seasonal Feature

bySierra Bacquie

There was supposed to be a new approach to the Correctional Service of Canada’s relationship to female offenders, who were promised responsible choices, respect, dignity, supportive environments, and shared responsibility. But on the night of April 26, eight women experienced humiliation, degradation, raw fear and trauma at the hands of an all-male emergency team. How did this happen? What has changed since?
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